


All the Things Caught In My Mind

by backinthebox



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 13:22:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18801181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/backinthebox/pseuds/backinthebox
Summary: Things had changed the minute Stacie had Bella: she had her daughter to consider in every decision, and sometimes, despite her own feelings about the matter, sometimes she had to prioritize what was best for Bella.If anyone dared to cross Bella, well, they would have Stacie to answer to.





	All the Things Caught In My Mind

Things had changed the minute Stacie had Bella: she had her daughter to consider in every decision, and sometimes, despite her own feelings about the matter, sometimes she had to prioritize what was best for Bella.

 

But Bella was her own person, and Stacie did not want to hinder Bella's choices and decisions, especially if Stacie couldn't see anything wrong with it, aside from her own reservations.

 

They were a team. And nobody got to get between that.

 

But if anyone dared to cross Bella, well, they would have Stacie to answer to.

 

Which is why, when Bella stormed home, ignoring her mom in the living room and running up to her room, the breadth of her emotional storm obvious despite her seven-year-old size, Stacie was immediately on edge.

 

Especially since she knew who Bella was supposed to be with.

 

The knock on the front door at least told Stacie that the person responsible for upsetting her daughter was aware of the state of Bella's emotions.

 

Stacie abandoned her reading, getting to her feet and answering the knock.

 

All these years, and seeing Aubrey still gave her heart a little start, a pang of regret over what could have been. Stacie crossed her arms and gave Aubrey an unamused look. "What happened?"

 

Aubrey exhaled, well used to Stacie's cold demeanor at this point, at least when it came to her, and didn't bother with polite pleasantries. "I need to talk to her."

 

"She's upset."

 

"I know."

 

"Why is my daughter upset, Aubrey?" Stacie hissed, closing the front door behind her as she joined Aubrey at her front step. "I told you, and I told Chloe, the only way you get to be around my daughter is contingent on you not hurting her. So why--"

 

"I'm not joining them this weekend." Aubrey blurted out.

 

Stacie frowned.

 

Aubrey saw the frown, and explained: "Sam wants to go to the zoo, and Chloe decided they'll make a tour of it and thinks it would be cool to bring Bella." When Stacie didn't say anything, Aubrey queried: "Didn't she tell you? I told Chloe to ask your permission, I thought--"

 

Chloe. The mediator between herself and Aubrey, making sure Aubrey remained in Bella's life and doing her best to prevent either of her friends from falling apart in the aftermath of their breakup, but for all her meddling, somehow just never bothered to try getting her two friends back together. She had also known about the planned field trip, Chloe taking a simple suggestion from her daughter and going to the extreme with it.

 

And because Aubrey had gotten Chloe in the breakup, Aubrey was considered the suitable chaperone for Bella when Chloe planned these outings with her own daughter. "Why can't you join them?"

 

Aubrey let out a breath. "I need to go to see one of the Lodge's clients. With Robin out of the picture, I have to fix the gap."

 

Oh. She hadn't realized Aubrey's girlfriend had remained one of the relationship managers for The Lodge, which Aubrey had finally obtained as her own business a few years previous. "Oh."

 

"Yeah," Aubrey's sigh was heavy. "I have to nip that in the bud before it becomes a thing."

 

"And you have to do that this weekend?"

 

"It's one of the clients she got for us, and I have to ensure they'll want to renew their contract with us, even without her."

 

Stacie sighed, and nodded in understanding. "No, it's your company, of course you'll--" She let her voice trail off, because… well, because of reasons she was no longer in any position to bring up, and neither did she want to hash out at the moment.

 

Stacie doesn't know why she's suddenly so intrigued by Aubrey's breakup, though: Aubrey had been dating the same woman for almost a year, and the breakup hadn't really surprised anyone after the cracks had started to show, but she's still caught by surprise that Aubrey's talking to her about it, and she doesn't know how to feel about the information.

 

Aubrey lowered her gaze. "Sorry."

 

"It's fine." Stacie lied, because it had to be.

 

She had been the one to break up with Aubrey, she had been the one who started dating first, she had been the one who made sure their friends knew she was fine breaking up with Aubrey. And while she had never barred Aubrey from talking about her lovelife, or prevented Aubrey from introducing the people she dated to Bella or any of their friends, Aubrey did it anyway, for reasons known only to her. Whatever Aubrey's reasons were, Stacie actually appreciated the gesture, even if she never told her that.

 

Stacie regarded Aubrey thoughtfully, and realized with a start that this was the first time in a very long time that they have been alone in any capacity with each other. They usually had Bella or Chloe with them, and they only really interacted socially in a large group, deliberately avoiding any situation where they would have to talk.

 

Stacie let out a sigh, and opened the door behind her, gesturing inside. "She's probably just in her room."

 

Aubrey nodded, silently taking the indirect invitation and heading inside.

 

To her credit, she didn't immediately head up the stairs, waiting for Stacie.

 

Ironic.

 

Stacie led them up the stairs, and knocked on Bella's door. "Bella?"

 

"Go away."

 

Stacie rolled her eyes. "Come on, babe, open the door."

 

"No."

 

"Aubrey wants to talk to you."

 

"I don't want to talk to her."

 

Stacie sighed. "Bella…"

 

"I said go!"

 

Stacie glanced at Aubrey, whose expression was indiscernible, and nodded when Aubrey indicated she wanted to try.

 

"Bella? I need to talk to you."

 

Funny, how Bella didn't have a sharp answer to that. Stacie watched Aubrey idly trace the letters of Bella's name that labeled the door, and remembered happier times, a long, long time ago.

 

"Bella, just know I'm sorry, okay?" Aubrey said softly through the door. "I'll make it up to you."

 

"You're going away."

 

"It's just for a little while." Aubrey answered. She wanted to try the door knob, knowing it wasn't locked, but didn't want to intrude on Bella's space, given how upset the girl already was.

 

Honestly, she doesn't know what has Bella so upset, she's traveled for work before, and she knew for a fact that the stuffed toy Bella went to sleep with every night had been something she'd brought back from California.

 

Then again, she's never skipped out on plans with Bella in favor of anything or anyone else, and this was the first time Aubrey had to prioritize her job over Bella. So maybe Bella had every right to be upset.

 

Hell, _Aubrey_ was upset.

 

The door opened, and Aubrey couldn't help but smile fondly at the younger Conrad, who had a different stuffed toy airport purchase from Aubrey tucked under one arm. "There she is. Hey, kid."

 

Bella wordlessly turned back around and back towards her bed. When she didn't crawl back into her bed, Aubrey followed her, taking a seat on the floor beside Bella's bed, where Bella joined her. After a beat, she took Aubrey's arm and placed it around her shoulders, moving closer to Aubrey. With similar heads of dark blond hair, Stacie wondered how often they got mistaken for mother and daughter when they hung out.

 

Bella looked up at Aubrey, expression serious. "You'll come back?"

 

Aubrey smiled. "Of course. I gotta spend my birthday with my favorite person, right?"

 

"And we'll go to the zoo?"

 

Aubrey nodded solemnly. "And we'll go to the zoo."

 

"And the aquarium?"

 

"And the aquarium." Aubrey confirmed.

 

Bella rested her head on Aubrey's shoulder, and asked, "Just you and me?"

 

"If that's what you want."

 

Bella fiddled with the ears of the stuffed giraffe she held in her hands, and asked, "Can Mom come too?"

 

Of course Bella wasn't going to make it easy. She'd been so good, somehow understanding the unspoken rule that her mom and Aubrey weren't supposed to hang out together, but now that Aubrey was going to owe her, she wasn't giving up her chance to spend time with her two favorite people at the same time.

 

(Sorry, Aunt Chloe.)

 

(And Aunt Beca. And Aunt Amy and Aunt Lilly.)

 

Aubrey cast a quick glance over at Stacie, who stood by the door. "Only if she wants to."

 

Bella nodded. "'Kay."

 

"Okay?" Aubrey echoed.

 

Bella nodded again. "I'll miss you."

 

Aubrey smiled faintly. "I'll miss you too, kid."

 

 

 


End file.
